Music Review: Killer Mike's 'R.A.P. Music'

"This some real G shit/ Ya gotta show respect."

That's the ending to the first track on Killer Mike's new album, R.A.P Music, and if you leave it there, this could just be another gansta rap album.  But it's a whole lot more than that.

For starters, there is the stand-out track, "Reagan," which was named Best New Track by Pitchforck Media in May.  (The album was released May 15, 2012).  I could write a whole essay on the beauty of this track, which exposes some of the oppressive crimes against the basic masses during the Reagan era, but also rants against some of the silly ideas often promoted by hip-hop artists.  Some of the lyrics: "So it seems our people starve/ from a lack of understanding./ Cause all we seem to give them/ is some balling and some dancing./ And some thinking about cars/ and imaginary mansions./"

A couple of the other stand-out tracks include the title track, which is a real homage to hip-hop music, as it compares it to a religious experience. And the very honest autobiographical track "Willie Burke Sherwood," (which has the best summary of the classic book, "Lord of the Flies," you will ever hear in any song).

Of course, what stands out the most on the album are all the contradictions.  For instance, you will hear references to Mumia Abu Jamal and the lack of justice for Black people, but in the same song you will hear Killer Mike refer to women as "Jezebel whores."

He's definitely not a "conscious MC" like Mos Def or Talib Kweli.  (Although his stance on Obama is a lot more radical than most conscious rappers).  He's more in the vein of someone like Ice Cube, who comes from the "hard streets," and whose lyrics reflect the best and worst thoughts of people living in the ghettos and barrios.

"A lot of people try to peg me as a political rapper and I'm not. I'm a social commentator and at times people have politicized the things I say, but I don't care too much for any political party. I care about people..." he recently told Spin magazine.

Killer Mike keeps his ear to the streets, and tells it the way he sees it.  This, (and the great production from El-P throughout the album), are good enough reason to listen to what he's saying.

Chilean student movement inspires new Ana Tijoux single

Recently, the French-Chilean MC Ana Tijoux released a single from her upcoming album, "La Bala" ("The Bullet"), which is very much inspired by the current student movement currently happening in Chile. Students have taken to the streets, almost daily, since June, protesting for free public education--sometimes even going up against riot police, tear gas and water cannons.

The song is called, "Shock," and it refers to the book by Naomi Klein, "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism," in which the author gets into "how America’s “free market” policies have come to dominate the world-- through the exploitation of disaster-shocked people and countries."

She was quoted as saying (loosely translated), "In putting together this song, I was inspired by this cross-sectional social movement and came at it from my roles as mother, a musician, and citizen. It seemed perfect to be able to pay homage to this movement through my music."

Below are some loosely translated lyrics:

Tu estado de control
tu trono podrido de oro
tu política y tu riqueza
y tu tesoro no.

La hora sonó, la hora sonó

NO permitiremos más, más tu doctrina del shock

* * *

Your state of control
Your rotting throne of gold
You politics and your riches
and your treasures, no.

The time has come, the time has come

We will NOT permit more, more of your shock doctrine


Tijoux started becoming better well known this year after she was nominated for a Grammy for her second album, "1977," in the Best Latin Rock, Alternative or Urban Album category.

Original source: Cambio Politico (Click on the source to hear the song and watch a cool video from the FAUNA Collective).

The Commotion Over Common

You might have heard about a poetry reading going down tonight at the White House, and the commotion it has stirred among right-wing conservatives. They have gone so far as to call Common, a "vile rapper" and "thug." Those accusations are laced in ignorance and racism. To most people, he's known as a "politically conscience hip-hop artist." I wish I could say that he had some radical politics, but not really. He did do a an anti-war piece when Bush was in office, (see video after the jump), but last year he was opening for Obama (at a Democratic rally).

Needless to say, I don't think Common has much of a radical edge these days. As one writer for the Huffington Post said: "I'm not trying to diss Common here, but I'm pretty sure his last two albums were sold in Starbucks." Of course, I'm not excusing the actions of the cons here: Just saying.

Below is Common doing a good political piece (back in the days).